KDSN RADIO News
U.S. Ag Secretary touts E15 expansion during Iowa visit
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced during a visit to Iowa that her agency will release over half a billion dollars to expand the number of U.S. retail outlets that sell E15.
Grants may be used to upgrade fuel pumps and other infrastructure so gasoline blended with a higher percentage of ethanol may be sold. “This will fund 543 projects in 29 states,” she said. “I know it has an outsized impact here in Iowa.”
Rollins made the announcement Monday during a stop at an ethanol plant in Atlantic. “At USDA, we are aggressively exploring ways to unleash American energy and incentivize homegrown biofuel production,” she said.
President Trump signed an executive order on January 20 declaring a National Energy Emergency, and he directed the EPA to consider issuing emergency waivers so E15 may be sold year-round nationwide. Rollins spoke with reporters outside the Elite Octane plant, which has processed 300 million bushels of corn since it opened in 2018.
“Here in the heartland, here in the very heart of America what you all stand for, what this amazing business stands for, what our farmers and ranchers stand for is how we do truly save the future of the country,” Rollins said, “and we do believe that E15 is a part of that.”
Also yesterday, during a stop in central Iowa, Rollins told reporters she’s planning another round of market disruption payments if Trump’s tariff announcement tomorrow sparks a trade war. The first Trump Administration provided American farmers with $23 billion in payments to cover trade-related losses.
